Traditional ironing involving a large standard iron and ironing board can be unsuitable in many situations, particularly where travellers are unable to transport a bulky iron or ironing board. In a retail environment, it is impractical to move large amounts of clothing or fabric items to an iron and ironing board and it is impractical to move an iron and ironing board around the retail environment. It is difficult to move certain fabric items, such as curtains, to an iron and ironing board set up.
Small sized standard irons are available and are sufficiently portable for travellers, however they disadvantageously still require an ironing board or similar surface. Steamers are available providing a flow of steam or water vapour for easing creases from fabric, however current steamers are unsatisfactory as they are bulky and unable to apply high temperature or pressure to the fabric to be ironed.
Hand held irons are known in the art of hair straightening. These generally include two opposing arms attached to each other at a hinge, each arm including a heating plate, where ironing is achieved by the user grasping the arms with one hand and bringing the heating plates together by gripping the arms, with the item to be ironed (usually hair) positioned in between the plates. Attempts have been made to use such irons in ironing of fabric items. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,375,609 to Harrington discloses a hand held iron with opposing plates designed to iron hard to reach areas. However, such hand held fabric irons are only able to iron small items or the edges of larger items.
It can be seen from the foregoing that a need has arisen for an effective portable iron which can operate without an ironing board. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an iron which is portable and can be used without an ironing board.